It is no exaggeration to say that oil is one of the least thought about – but most important – parts of an internal combustion engine (ICE).
Over a century after the invention of ICE, oil technology continues to evolve, with developments such as hybridisation and start-stop posing additional challenges to oil manufacturers.
Business Motoring speaks to Matti Alemayehu, global motorsport technology manager at Mobil1, to hear about how hybrid and internal combustion oils differ, how motorsport helps develop oil for road cars, and best practice for maintenance.
What are the differences between ICE and hybrid oils?
The main difference is in the operating condition of the engine. There are unique parameters that you need to take into consideration – such as if the engine is operating at a lower temperature, or if there a start-stop system. You have to design the lubricant to be able to mitigate any challenges that would arise from that.
The wear pattern is similar, but you need to take into account different componentry, different additives. You want to make sure you’ve optimised to be able to mitigate any wear concerns that would come with lower operating temperatures.
In some cases, you will have some contaminants that potentially would be within the oil like fuel, as well as water. Making sure that your lubricant is designed to be able to handle that is key.
Do hybrids need to be maintained differently to ICE cars?
It depends on the operating condition of the engine. Even in the oil drain recommendations from the manufacturers, they do stipulate if you drive it in certain conditions, the oil drain interval would have to be different.
You can’t really generalise with it being longer or shorter from hybrid versus ICE, but you would have to take into consideration the other parameters. It’s not a one-size-fits-all in that case.
Are innovations still happening in the ICE world, or are manufacturers focusing all efforts on hybrid and EV tech?
I wouldn’t say it’s over. Within the motorsport space, there are definitely continuous performance-driven updates that take place within the engine. There are continuous improvements being developed which will eventually make it onto road vehicles.
Within the motorsport space, we support quite a lot of racing series, including Formula 1, World Endurance Championship (WEC), World Rally Championship (WRC) and NASCAR. There’s a continuous push towards more and more performance.
In Formula 1, for example, performance engines are getting smaller. And you are also seeing it become more hybridised. You’re now pulling 50:50 from the hybrid part of the powertrain as well as the ICE part.
In Formula 1, we’ve gone from fossil-based fuel to fuel from sustainable sources. There has been quite a lot of change in the space of the fuel, which also drives lubricant changes. We need to identify when the fuel changes in the lubricant. That also drives performance, there are some more optimizations that you need to do.
How does racing technology help develop solutions for road engines?
As you can imagine, the technology is quite advanced versus what’s out there in the road car. You don’t typically see a one-to-one translation of what we have in the motorsports space directly into a road car.
We’re taking bits and pieces of what we learn. The motorsports space is really a proving ground for us. We take technology, we test it and stretch it to the limit on track, and the pieces that we learn go into our commercial applications and our commercial offer.
Taking what we learn from the hybrid application that we have with WEC and Toyota and the one we take from Formula 1, we take those into our Mobil1 offer, even if it’s not the full offer that we take.
What are the upcoming challenges in the oil sector?
The changes that are happening in the fuel space, there are quite a lot of synergies and compatibility that you need to think about.
If you do end up in some cases with fuel dilution that happens into the oil, then it must be able to withstand that with different chemistries and different technologies.
In the F1 space – as it has evolved towards advanced sustainable fuel – we have to make sure that there is compatibility between the lubricant and the fuel. Ensuring there is synergy in performance as well as durability of the engine and making sure you have reliability
How are oils tested and service intervals decided on?
The manufacturer develops the engine with the lubricant and tests it in different operating conditions. They do put out specific drain intervals tied to the lubricant itself and the operating condition. I would stay with that recommendation because it’s not made lightly.
For lubricants, there is a specification that the OEM has. You also have industry regulation as well that you’re meeting.
There are a specified number of tests that you go through. There’s a bench test, there’s an engine test before you qualify your oil to meet a certain specification or for you to be approved by a certain OEM.
In bench testing, you’re testing your viscosity and your metals. In a rig test, you’re going through the engine run and you’re testing the oil performance within that, and adjusting as needed.
That multi-year type of development is what leads you to the final product, that you take onto the track if you go to track, or you go to the commercial offer with an approval.
There’s quite a lot of rigour that goes into it. And depending on which OEM you’re working with, the test could be different. It’s very rigorous.
